The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Bangladesh on Thursday signed agreements for $13.5 million in additional project loan to modernize irrigation; improve management, operation, and maintenance of large-scale irrigation schemes; and protect productive lands from flooding.
The additional loan will scale up the ongoing $46 million Irrigation Management Improvement Project.
Fatima Yasmin, Secretary, Economic Relations Division (ERD), and Edimon Ginting, Country Director, ADB, virtually signed the loan agreements on behalf of Bangladesh and ADB, respectively.
“The assistance will help manage the effects of water abundance and scarcity by improving irrigation management and infrastructure,” said Country Director Edimon Ginting.
“To promote sustainability in water sector, this project will foster private sector participation by transferring management, operation, and maintenance of irrigation schemes from government departments to private operators.”
“It will also introduce innovative infrastructure modernization, such as replacing diesel motor pumps with electric pumps, developing highly efficient buried-pipe tertiary distribution systems, and installing prepaid card meter systems,” Ginting added.
The project will repair 17 kilometers of coastal embankment and re-excavate over 400 kilometers of canal drains. By 2024, it will increase dry-season irrigation area under the Muhuri irrigation system by 60% to 18,000 hectares. The average yield of irrigated winter paddy (boro) is expected to increase to 4 tons/ha from 3 tons in 2013.
The project will ensure employment of at least 2% women as pump operators, 5% as mobile water unit vendors, and 5% women as construction workers. The assistance supports improvement of climate resilience by promoting improved flood protection, reservoir management, and water use efficiency.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.
